The Vatican Information Service is a news service, founded in the Holy See Press Office, that provides information about the Magisterium and the pastoral activities of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia...[+]

Last 5 news

Friday, April 4, 2014

Vatican City, 4 April 2014 (VIS) –
Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, accompanied
by His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, arrived in
the Vatican yesterday, following their visit to the Quirinal Palace,
at around 3.20 p.m.

They were greeted in Piazzetta John
Paul II (between the Paul VI Hall and the Palazzo della Canonica) by
Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop
Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States and Msgr.
Antoine Camilleri, under secretary for Relations with States. They
were awaited inside the room by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor,
archbishop emeritus of Westminster.

The Holy Father received Her Majesty
the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in his study next to the Paul VI
Hall for a private meeting, which lasted around twenty minutes. This
was followed by greetings with the entourage and an exchange of gifts
in the adjacent room. The gift offered to the Pope by Her Majesty was
a large basket of food products (jams, drinks etc) produced on the
various royal estates. The Pope gave Her Majesty a facsimile of a
valuable document conserved in the Vatican, by which the cult of St.
Edward the Confessor, an ancestor of the British royal family and
founder of Westminster Abbey, where he is buried) was extended to the
universal Church in 1679, by Pope Innocent XI. The Pope also gave an
ornament composed of a lapis lazuli sphere topped with a silver cross
of St. Edward, for the Queen's great-grandson, Prince George of
Cambridge. He gave a triptych of pontifical medals to the Duke of
Edinburgh.

Vatican City, 4 April 2014 (VIS) –
The Holy Father has sent a message to Ignatius Aphrem II, the new
Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, congratulating
him on his election. Pope Francis expresses his joy at receiving this
news and prays that His Holiness “may be a spiritual father for
your people and an untiring builder of peace and justice, serving the
common good and the good of the entire Middle East in today's
difficult circumstances”.

“It is important for all Christians
to bear witness to the love and fellowship that binds us together,
mindful of the prayer offered by our Lord at the Last Supper: that
all may be one, so that the world may believe”. The Pope gives
thanks to the Lord “for the bonds of fraternity between the
Catholic Church and the Syrian Orthodox Church”, and prays “that
our continuing friendship and dialogue may be further developed and
deepened. May our heavenly Father fill Your Holiness with peace and
strength for the noble task that awaits you”.

Vatican City, 4 April 2014 (VIS) –
During the Sunday Angelus, and on various other occasions, Pope
Francis has urged the faithful to carry a pocket-sized book of the
Gospels and to read it often to meditate on Jesus' words and deeds,
especially those referred to in the day's liturgy, on which Pope
Francis himself has commented.

To help put this suggestion into
practice, and communicating a clear message, next Sunday during the
Angelus in St. Peter's Square, several thousand pocket-sized copies
of the Gospel will be distributed free as a gift to the faithful at
the behest of the Pope.

The initiative, similar to the
distribution of the “Misericordinas” some months ago, will be
implemented by the Almoner of His Holiness, with the collaboration of
a number of volunteers: 150 scouts, seminarians from the Roman
Seminary, the Sisters of Mother Teresa and other religious, and
individuals. Indeed, it is the role of the Almoner to distribute
charity, not only material but also spiritual, on behalf of the Pope.

The book, printed by the Vatican
Typography (in a special edition for this occasion, which will not be
available for sale), contains the four Gospels and the Acts of the
Apostles, and begins with the Pope's words from the Apostolic
Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”: “The joy of the Gospel fills
the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus”. On the inner
cover leaf there are instructions on how to recite the “chaplet of
Mercy” and it ends, on the inner back cover, with Blessed Cardinal
John H. Newman's prayer: “Dear Jesus...”, that Mother Teresa
advised her nuns to recite every day.

Vatican City, 4 April 2014 (VIS) –
Published below are extracts from the message sent by Cardinal
Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical Council for the
Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples to the members of the
International Catholic Committee for Gypsies (CCIT), who will meet in
Cavallino-Treporti, Italy from 4 to 6 April.

In our globalised world, in fact, walls
continue to be built that divide the peoples of the same continent,
people from the same country or the same city”, he writes. “Also
among the European countries, some are still negatively influenced in
their political choices regarding the Roma to whom you are close in
your respective pastoral commitments. … The challenge you face with
evangelical courage in your pastoral activities demonstrates that to
tear down walls, one must begin in the heart, the first space where
another is included, and as long as hearts are not open, it will not
be easy to achieve an inclusive society. So this moment of reflection
offers you the opportunity to put your energies together to create a
social dynamic in which the different cultures can live together”.

“The Gypsies need the humanity of the
society in which they live in order to feel like members of the human
family and benefit from the rights enjoyed by the other members of
the community in respect for their dignity and identity. … There is
a need for tenacious, patient work on everyone's part. The Church can
be of inspiration and make the efforts converge into a common
commitment in order to face the dilemmas at the basis of the Roma's
human difficulties. … The document 'Guidelines for the Pastoral
Care of the Gypsies' continues to be a fundamental reference for you
and you should use it as well as possible for your service in the
midst of this People because it offers important guidelines that are
the fruit of common work”.

“The Roma have the right to be
recognised at least as ethnic minorities in the countries where they
live since they are the largest minority in the European Union”. He
concludes, “The Church has the task to bring Jesus' Gospel in their
midst but also to support their dream of integration which passes
through education, health, work and housing, and all of this in
collaboration with people of good will”.

Vatican City, 4 April 2014 (VIS) –
The second international conference on “Combating Human
Trafficking: Church and law enforcement in partnership” will take
place on 9 and 10 April in the Academy of Sciences in the Vatican.

The event is being organised by the
Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and is chaired by Cardinal
Vincent Nichols, archbishop of Westminster. There will be an audience
with Pope Francis at the close of the conference, where the Holy
Father will meet with victims and police chiefs.

From listening to the voices of the
victims, who will also be represented at the conference and able to
tell their stories to all delegates from both law enforcement
agencies and the Church, the Conference aims to bring police chiefs
together so they can build an effective network to combat trafficking
and work collaboratively with the Church. Closer collaboration will
also enable joint investigations between law enforcement agencies,
enabling a more co-ordinated international approach to rid the world
of the scourge of its second most profitable crime.

Vatican City, 4 April 2014 (VIS) –
The heads of youth pastoral care from all over the world will meet in
Rome, invited by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, from 10 to 13
April. It will be the first international meeting linked to the
Krakow World Youth Day, and will offer an opportunity for checks and
review for the organisers of the event. The meeting will be attended
by 250 delegates from the Episcopal conferences of around 90
countries and 45 Catholic communities, associations and youth
movements, as well as all the local organisational committees for Rio
de Janeiro 2013 and Krakow 2016.

The work of the congress will begin on
Thursday 10 April with an introductory greeting from Cardinal
Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
The entire day will be dedicated to a review of the Rio de Janeiro
World Youth Day in 2013, “a celebration of faith and fraternity”.
“Towards Krakow 2016” will be the theme of Friday 11 April: it
will be introduced by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of
Krakow. Saturday 12 April will offer the opportunity for joint
reflection on the theme “World Youth Days and their integration in
ordinary youth pastoral”. On Sunday 13 April, Palm Sunday, the
delegates will attend a Holy Mass celebrated by the Holy Father in
St. Peter's Square, with the diocesan celebration of the 29th World
Youth Day.

Vatican City, 4 April 2014 (VIS) –
The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff today
announced that on Saturday, 12 April, at 6.30 a.m., Cardinal Orani
Joao Tempesta, archbishop of San Sebastian de Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
will take possession of the title of St. Mary Mother of Providence in
Monte Verde (Via di Donna Olimpia, 35).

- appointed Fr. Stefan Oster, S.D.B.,
as bishop of Passau (area 5,442, population 546,430, Catholics
486,195, priests 383, permanent deacons 38, religious 772), Germany.
The bishop-elect was born in 1965 in Amberg Germany, gave his
perpetual vows in 1999, and was ordained a priest in 2001. He
obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Augsburg in
2003 has served in a number of academic roles, including professor of
philosophy in the University of Augsburg faculty of theology,
professor of philosophy at the Salesian High School in
Benediktbeuern, and ordinary professor of dogmatics and history of
dogma at the Salesian High School in Benediktbeuern. He is a member
of the Commission for Vocations of the German Bishops' Conference.

- appointed Rev. Pierre-Yves Michel as
bishop of Valence (area 6,522, population 492,508, Catholics 287,000,
priests 175, permanent deacons 33, religious 347), France. The
bishop-elect was born in 1960 in Roanne, France and was ordained a
priest in 1991. He holds a “Maitrise” in theology from the
university seminary of Lyon and a diploma from the faculty of
theology of the Institut Catholique, Paris. He has served in a number
of pastoral roles in the archdiocese of Lyon, including vicar of the
parish “Saint-Joseph des Brotteaux”; chaplain of the
Vendome-Bellcombe College; episcopal delegate for catechesis and for
youth pastoral; episcopal vicar for catechesis and the catechumenate;
secretary of the episcopal council; priest of the “Saint-Priest”
parish and member of the college of consultors and the presbyteral
council. He is currently vicar general and moderator of the curia.